CLIFTON – A week after seven Clifton High School students allegedly assaulted a city resident on their walk home from school, city and school officials said they are working together to tighten dismissal procedures at all of the district's 19 schools.

Though the beating was not discussed at a joint committee meeting of the City Council and Board of Education on Monday, officials pledged to zero in on traffic problems at the schools when parents drop off and pick up their children. The victim of the Jan. 21 beating has said the encounter began during a chaotic dismissal in a snowstorm, with a student crossing in the middle of traffic.

Board member Lucy Danny, a member of the committee, said during a Wednesday meeting that the district, with police help, successfully revamped those procedures around School 5, where residents have complained for months about double-parkers and long lines of cars. Superintendent Richard Tardalo will review conditions at the other schools and may call for more police assistance at the "current trouble spots," she said.

Councilman Peter Eagler said officials agreed that there should be a closer working relationship between the schools and police. But he rejected the idea of increasing police patrols at the schools, as some parents have suggested, arguing instead for more emphasis on talking to parents and students about safe crossings.

Eagler conceded that there were no easy solutions in densely packed neighborhoods and at the high school, where "you're moving thousands of people over a very short period of time."

Councilman Matthew Ward said the schools should encourage students to pay more attention to traffic instead of minding their phones and friends while crossing the street. For drivers not following the parking rules, the police will step in with ticket blitzes as they recently did at School 15, he said. What everyone needs, Ward said, is patience, especially at the high school.

"Patience is a tough word for people in Jersey, but what do you think this is, 'Star Trek'? They're going to be beamed home?" Ward said.

The 23-year-old beating victim said a student punched his Jeep Cherokee while jaywalking across Colfax Avenue, passing between his car and another vehicle in front of him. The man followed the boy to a side street to question him, and was attacked.

The student and six of his friends allegedly threw their fists, rocks and pieces of wood at the man, battering his face and breaking his nose. The students each were charged with aggravated assault.

On Wednesday, the district addressed the incident for the first time. Board President Gary Passenti called the students "bad seeds," but said the administration and police were working on solutions.

Tardalo said the district couldn't suspend the students because the incident had "no nexus to the school." But he said a counseling supervisor would speak with their parents about getting extra support for their children.

"Some are taking the wrong road," Tardalo said. "I think education is still the answer and that's something we have to work on."